Annealing-furnace



1. 1. "BEEMAN.

ANNEALING FURNACE.

APPLICATION FILED 1AN.7.19I8.

1,305,991 9 Patented June 10, 1919.

3 SHEETS SHEET I.

awe/M10 0 (JOSEPH d Eff/71 7 1. BEEMAN.

ANNEALING FURNACE.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 7 I918 1 3%,991 Patented June 10, 1919.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2- mw/wlioz JOSEPH J. BEE/717 1.1. BEEMAN. ANNEALING FURNACE.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 7 I918.

Patented June 10, 1919.

3 SHEETSSHEET 3.

51mm JOSEPH cl 5557714 attomu JOSEPH J. BEEMAN, 0F DETROIT, MICHIGAN, ASSIGNOR TO STANDARD FUEL ENGINEERING- COMPANY," OF DETROIT, MICHIGAN, A CORPORATION OF MICHIGAN.

ANNEALING-FURNACE.

Patented June 10, 1919.

Application filed January 7, 1918. Serial No. 210,637.

To all whom it may concern:

. Be it known that I, Josnrn J. BEEMAN, a subject of the'King of Great Britain, residing at Detroit, county of Wayne, State of Michigan, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Annealing-Furnaces, and declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it pertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which form a part of this specification.

This invention relates to annealing furnaces, and its object is to provide an improved structure in which the articles to be annealed are carried through the heating conduit or chamber in such manner that the surface thereof is uniformly subjected to the heat of the furnace. A further object is to provide a means for suspending the articles to be annealed and to continuously move the same through the furnace for the required period of time. A further feature of the invention is involved in the means employed in carrying the articles to be treated through the furnace and in the particular construction of the heat chamber or conduit as is hereinafter more fully described and claimed.

In the drawings Figure 1 is a plan view of a furnace embodying my invention.

Fig. 2 is a cross section taken on line m-w .of Fig. 1 showing a section of the heating chamber and manner of supporting the articles therein and part of the mechanism employed in carrying the articles through the conduit. I

Fig. 3 is a section taken on line yg of Fig. 1 showing the entrance to the conduit or heating chamber.

. The device consists of a semi-circular conduit 1, practically rectangular in cross section as shown in Fig. 2. The Walls 2 are refractory material, preferably tile'or brick, and the refractory material is practically fully covered to the usual depth with a heat insulating covering 3 of about fiveinches in thickness and the whole is inclosed in a cast iron'case 4: extending about all sides thereof as will be understood fully from Fig. 2. The chamber or conduit 1 has a slot 5 in the inner vertical wall thereof, and the cast iron shell 4 on the upper side of the inner wall. is provided with an inturned flange member sup- At the axis of the conduit is a vertical shaft 11 carrying a plate 12 at the upper end thereof on the lower face of which is provided an annular track member'13 riding on a series of spaced rollers rotatably mounted in a bracket 15 supported on the inner standards 10 as shown in Fig. 2. As indicated in Fig; 2, the shaft 11 is provided with a worm wheel 16 driven by a worm 17 on the drive shaft 18, which may be operated in any convenient manner as by the belt wheel 19. The revoluble plate 12 carries atthe peripherythereof a series of radially disposed arms 20 extending into the conduit 1 through the slot 5 in the inner vertical wall. These arms 20 are shaped at the inner end in a manner to carry the article desired to be treated, the arrange ment being such that the surface of the article is. entirely exposed to the heat of the furnace or chamber 1. In the case illustrated the arm is provided with a collar or flange 21 near the end and a terminal portion 22 having the shape of an X, the arms of which are equidistantly spaced from the center and adapted to receive a cylinder 23 of a gasolene engine. The cylinder is simply placed on the end of the arm 22, the flange 21 determining the extent to which the arm extends into the cylinder, and by rotation of the central member 12 bythe gearing described, the arms with the cylinders thereon are moved through the furnace from the entrance to the exit thereof during which time they are subjected to the desired temperature for the required period of time.

The conduit'l is not a complete circle as will beunderstood from Fig. 1, there being a section 30 provided between the spaced ends 31 and 32 of the conduit. Both the entrance andexit of the conduit are covered by a cast iron plate 33 as indicated in Fig. 3, having an aperture 34 therein of. a size sufficient to freely allow the movement of the arm and cylinder or other article thereon into the furnace or conduit as is indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 3. Inasmuch as the arms 20 are quite close together, as will be understood from Fig. 1', the aperture in the plates 83 covering the entrance and exit to the conduit is not entirely open at any time, it being occupied nearly continuously with an arm and cylinder as shown in Fig. 3.

The space 30 between the'ends of the con duit is of such width that several of the arms are exposed, thus allowing for suflicient time during continued movement of the arms, for theremoval of an article from the arm just passing out of the conduit at the end 32 and to place a new article thereon prior to its movement into the entrance end 31 of the conduit. By this arrangement the operation may be made continuous, the speed of rotation of the table 12being timed (by means of the gearing and speed of rotatlon of the wheel 19) so that the articles are subjected to the required temperature for the time interval required for the annealing operation.

The conduit 1 may be heated in any desired manner and preferably by means qf a series of gas burners 40 and 41. It is to be noted from Fig. 2 that there are a series of burners 41 at the bottom of the conduit extending thereinto through the outside wall which are supplied through the main conduit 42, and a series of burners .40 extending into the conduit at the top through the outside wall, being supplied by a conduit 43. An additional series of burners 44 and 45 may be utilized extending through the upper and lower sides respectively of the inside wall of the conduit and it is to be understood that the burners of either series should not be directly one above the other and likewise the burners 44 and 45 should not be positioned directly opposite the burners 40 and 41. Bydisposing the burners out of alinement after the manner stated, the heat from the burners is more equally distributed about the conduit and the articles being treated are therefore subjected to equal degrees of temperature throughout the surface thereof. To assist in equalizing the distribution of heat therein, a series of vents 46 are positioned equidistantly about the conduit extending through the upper wall thereof as indicated in Fig. 1. These vents permit a flow of heated air from the chamber and the upper part of the chamber is prevented from becoming overheated. These vents also counteract to some extent the tendency of the heated air to flow outward through the slot 5 in the wall of the conduit.

While I have described the preferred means of heating the conduit or chamber 1, any approved means may be employed for the purpose. It is also to be understood that the furnace may be heated to various and continuous in operation. The articles treated are uniformly heated throughout the surface thereof resulting in a superiorproduct. I

Having thus briefly described my invention, its utility and mode of operation, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is 1. A furnace for heat treating metal articles comprising a conduit of refractory material annular in form having spaced ends providing an inlet and an outlet for the conduit, means for heating the conduit, the conduit being vented and having a circumferential slot formed in the inner vertical wall thereof, a member rotartably mounted on an axis practically coinciding with the axis of the conduit, and arms'projecting laterally in radial relation from said member through the slot into the conduit, the arms being formed at the end to provide a support for an article to be heat treated.

2. In a furnace for heat treating cylinders, an annular conduit of refractory material having a circumferential slot, and a series of arms in radial relation extending through the slot into the conduit adapted to be rotated about'an axis coinciding with the axis of the conduit, the said arms at the end being adapted to extend to a limited extent into the cylinders exposing the entire outer surface thereof to the heat of theconduit.

' 3. A anneallng furnace comprising a conduit annular in form and having spaced ends providing an inlet and an outlet there-- for, means for heating the conduit, and a series of article carriers adapted to continuously pass articles to be heat treated through the furnace from the inlet to the outlet, the said spaced ends exposing a number of article carriers to view to allow the ready removal and the positioning of articles on the thereof.

4. A furnace for heat-treating metals.

comprising a' conduit of refractory material annular in form having spaced adj aoent endsproviding an inlet and an outlet, the inner vertical wall of the conduit being formed with a continuous peripheral slot, a series of radially positioned arms rotatable on an axis practically coinciding with the axis of the conduit, said arms pro ecting into the. conduit through the slot, and means carriers during movement nating in an end adapted to support an article to be heat-treated.

.5. A furnace for heat-treating metal articles, comprising a conduit of refractory material annular in form having spaced ends providing an inlet and an outlet, an apertured closure for each of said ends, the aperture therein being of a size to allow the articles to be treated to be passed therethrough, the inner vertical wall of the conduit having a continuous circumferential slot formed therein, a table or plate mounted to rotate in a horizontal plane, the axis of rotation practically coinciding with the axis of the conduit, radially positioned arms attached to the plate extending throughthe said slot into the conduit adapted to carry the articles to be treated, the aperture in the closures being slotted to correspond with the slot in the conduit wall whereby an arm with the article carried thereby may pass respectively into and from the inlet and outlet, and means for rotating the plate and arms;

6. An annealing furnace or the like comprising a conduit of refractory material.

annular in form having spaced ends providing an inlet and an outlet therefor, means for heating the conduit, the inner peripheral wall of the conduit having a circumferential slot formed therein and the upper wall of the conduit having a series of equidistantly spaced vents, and a series of article carriers rotatably mounted on an axis substantially coinciding with the axis of the conduit and extending through the slot into the conduit 7. An annealing furnace or the like comprising a conduit annular in form and having spaced ends providing an inlet and 'outlet therefor, means for heating the conduit, the inner wall of the conduit having a circumferential slot formed therein, and a series of article carriers extending through the slot into the conduit adapted to be rotated about a vertical axis and passing the articles to be heat-treated through the furnace from the inlet to the outlet, the said spaced ends exposinga number of article holders to view to allow for the ready re moval and positioning of the articles on the said carriers.

- In testimony whereof I sign this specification.

JOSEPH BEEMAN. 

